The Premier League vs Manchester City
Written by Ted Culley - 03 August 2026
On the football pitch reckless challenges, dissent, and time wasting are quickly punished by red and yellow cards. Punishing an entire football club for alleged off-pitch rule breaches, however, can be a far lengthier process. One Manchester City (aka Man City) has no doubt discovered. If you haven’t already heard, the Premier League is in the process of gauging whether Man City have previously broken their rules, which has proved to be far trickier than scribbling a footballer’s name and number onto the back of a coloured card.
Back in February 2023, it was confirmed that the Premier League had referred Man City to a commission for breaking certain rules. The Premier League argues that Man City are guilty of 115 financial rule breaches. Some of the rule breaches being alleged include failing to provide accurate financial information, failing to provide the Premier League with accurate details for player and manager payments, and failing to co-operate with Premier League investigations.
In late 2024, an independent hearing took place to try and determine whether Man City had breached these rules. Fast forward to now, a year and a half after three anonymous judges were first left to decide on an outcome, football fans are still none the wiser, and Man City is no more clued up on when a verdict will be delivered. So, what gives? Why has it taken so long to reach a decision?
In short, no one is quite sure. The whole process has been incredibly secretive, and the judgement has taken, and continues to take, an abnormally long time to be provided. Some have speculated that a ruling involving football clubs Everton and Burnley (which we will revisit later) may have impacted the judges’ decisions. Others have also suggested that the involvement of the judges in other cases may have slowed the process of reaching a judgement. One thing that is for sure? This case will have a huge impact on the Premier League and the perceived legitimacy of the seven Premier League titles which Man City won during the timeframe these rule breaches were alleged to have taken place.
A guilty verdict for the club could spell a number of serious consequences. One plausible outcome for a guilty Man City could be a hefty deduction of its points. Previously, several top-flight clubs have faced point deductions for breaking the League’s rules including Everton, Nottingham Forest, Middlesbrough and Portsmouth. The number of points Man City might be expected to be deducted is, however, difficult to assess. A statement given by the appeal board that sat to examine Everton’s 10-point deduction in February 2024 shines some light on why this is the case. They argued:
“The assessment of how many points would be appropriate is neither a mathematical exercise nor, indeed, an exercise in which the PL has given any guidelines. Had the PL clubs wished to have had a structured approach, which would have given them more predictability and transparency, then they could have agreed such an approach either in the Rules themselves or in published Guidelines: they have not done so”.
Further legal action could also be another possible repercussion for Man City if they are found guilty of rule breaches. Although the decision is still subject to appeal, earlier this year Burnley successfully sued Everton for breaching Premier League rules, leaving the Toffees nearly £40 million out of pocket. In this instance, Burnley argued that if Everton were deducted points when the financial breaches took place, instead of a season later, then Everton would have been relegated instead of Burnley. Thus, resulting in the payout by way of compensation. Bearing this precedent in mind, Premier League clubs will no doubt examine their options for legal action should a guilty verdict be reached.